Artefact Creative Process ~ The brochure

When explaining my idea to a tutor and how the brochure will work I was left very confused as to HOW THE BROCHURE WILL WORK!!?? So I decided to do a test print to make sure that it would work fine. Which it did!

I didn’t bother making it any exact measurements, just made this quick test fit into an A5 page size to give a rough idea of size. This test allowed me to see the order of pages and which images need to be on which side for printing also how it would join.

From here I was able to get into making the actual brochure knowing that it is going to work!

The next thing I did from here was add text to the muscle structure image and the skull. I achieved this through illustrator by firstly, choosing a suitable font which I found free online. I went with a font called Hand of Sean, as I felt it suited my brand and would suit the image, also it would look good when distorted which is exactly what I will be doing to it.

Font Used

From here I was able to write out my sentences and adjust the size and position them over the image where they would roughly sit. I would then select the text and then Object>Envelope Distort>Make with Mesh and then depending on the word adjust a number of columns and rows used. This would allow me to grab the words and distort them into fitting within the lines of the image.

I did this step on both images. With the muscle structure image, I only put ‘The Hoare.c Manifesto” as I didn’t want to get into writing the manifesto on this page but rather leave it as a title page. This would explain what the brochure was, answering the viewer’s initial curiosity as the cover is just an image, similar to how Joseph Veazey did his. The skull image contains a single line from my manifesto that I felt was very important to my practice.

“I am no stranger to making use of every colour in the crayon box.”

Hence why I went through and made it on the middle page as a statement image.

The two pages on either side of the skull image were left blank yellow which I would write my manifesto on. I chose a font that mimicked handwriting. I decided on this to create a look that again, went with my brand, but seemed like I had just hand written it in to create a more interesting and personal effect. From here I was able to assemble the finished pages ready to print.

The entire three pages came to 413 x 213 mm as each page was just smaller than A5. I printed both sets of pages onto an SRA3 size page to give me extra space around the final product. I had to print the skull side reversed and upside down so that when printed double-sided with the other set of pages everything would match up and be legible.

After successfully printing this trial out I cut around the edges and quickly found a few problems. Those being that scissors were not the best option to use as they couldn’t fit around the small corners and caused damage trying to do so. Because of this, I finished the job with a scalpel. Because I had initially folded along my fold lines I had trouble with the scalpel over the folds which caused more untidy damage. The remaining two issues were discovered once I had completely cut out the brochure, those being that the printer didn’t accurately match up both pages when printing it double-sided which left a white edge around the image on one side. The second remaining issue was caused by printing on white paper. Once cut you see a white line from where the base paper shows, which is very visible against the black ink.

Solving time!

before printing, I went and edited the file. Adding a full black background to one side of the brochure.

This solves the not matching up issue caused by the printer. The other side still had the smaller black border which provides a guideline of where to cut. with this side fully blacked out I wouldn’t have to worry about the displacement of both sides causing a white edge. The next solution was to print on thicker paper. I decided on a silk coated 250gsm SRA3 page as it gave a nice finish and was more sturdy. The next solution was to not fold the image before cutting out and use a scalpel with a fresh blade. This left one more issue of the white edge remaining after being fully cut out. As this line was only very thin, paper-thin to be exact, I was able to just draw over it with a black marker pen to create a crisp finish.

The Final Product!

I was really happy with the final result of this! I felt that the brochure format suits my brand and the illustrations act as a really good representation for my style. I do believe the text could have been done a little or a lot better but that is something I can work on perfecting. The scribbles and handwritten font do work I believe as it feels like I have just written this as if it were me writing in a diary. this gives a personal element which is true to my work as my work is a self-expression!